


Bitter, Fond

by IdleLeaves



Category: Loki: Where Mischief Lies, Marvel
Genre: Gifts, M/M, Post-Canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29835828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdleLeaves/pseuds/IdleLeaves
Summary: Theo hesitates, a plausible - but untrue - reason on the tip of his tongue. It's only a small lie, one that barely registers as such, yet he can't seem to just say it. He chooses, instead, to be honest. One of them should be.
Relationships: Theo Bell/Loki
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Bitter, Fond

The shutters are closed and locked, tonight, yet the wind can still slip through the gaps in their sagging frame. There's a chill in the smoke-blackened air that reminds Theo of snow; for him, this coming winter may be the hardest yet. Already his breath fogs in the mornings when he's still lying under thin blankets and the fire has burned low overnight.

Two sharp knocks at the door startle him as he's adding sticks to the fire, and his hand nearly flinches into the flames. Unplanned visitors are rare even in daylight, and it's late enough, now, for Theo's heart to quicken in alarm, or anticipation.

He rises from the floor. "Yes?" he says.

"Theo."

Theo stills. He takes a breath, then another, and unlatches the door.

"May I come in?" Loki asks, after a stretch of silence. 

His face is neutral, neither open nor guarded, but the slight tightening of his jaw belies the effort it takes to keep it so. Theo focuses on that, and on the cloth-wrapped parcel tucked under his arm. It keeps him from looking too deeply into Loki's eyes, oddly pale in the hall's dim lamp-light.

Theo steps back wordlessly to allow Loki in, then shuts the door behind them. "Didn't expect to see you again," he says. It's not the first thing that comes to mind. He crosses his arms and stays close to the fire. Cold makes his leg ache; warmth soothes it.

"It took some convincing," Loki says, and his distaste for that particular word - or the process - is clear, "to be allowed a short return." He sets his parcel on the small table that holds Theo's kettle and his cups. "Theo," he says, "the way we parted was... unfortunate."

"Unfortunate," Theo echoes. He means it to be sharp, even flippant - he's always angry, when he imagines this. Instead, it's flat, nearly devoid of inflection. "You're not here to apologise, are you," he says, and already knows the answer.

Loki doesn't appear, however, to be listening. He's glancing around the flat, from the shuttered window to the door and back again. "Where are your books?" he asks.

"Had to move 'em to the shop."

"Why?"

Theo hesitates, a plausible - but untrue - reason on the tip of his tongue. It's only a small lie, one that barely registers as such, yet he can't seem to just say it. He chooses, instead, to be honest. One of them should be.

He shrugs. "Mrs. S is gone and the rent's overdue. She left a little behind, for me, but it's run out. I've got three days to come up with it, and we both know that's not going to happen."

Loki has the grace to look upset. "Where will you go?"

Theo shrugs again. "Not a lot of options for someone like me. No," he says, as Loki takes a breath to speak. "Don't make promises you won't keep." Something twists in his gut, and Theo finds the spiral-curl of anger he's been expecting all along. "I don't trust your words."

"Of course you don't," Loki says sharply. "You've read the stories."

"So you've decided to live up to them, have you?" Theo says, and realises in an instant he's raised his voice without thinking. He looks quickly toward the door, but the hall outside remains silent.

"In some respects," Loki answers, and there's an edge to his voice that hadn't been there before.

"And in others?"

Loki tilts his head. "I'm here, am I not?"

Theo sighs, and drops his head down to rub a hand over his face. "Yeah," he says, with another soft exhale. "Yeah, you're here." The fire crackles and sparks as he turns toward it. "I don't want to fight," he says.

"Nor do I," says Loki.

Theo's sure his attempt at a smile is unconvincing. "What's that?" he asks, nodding toward the parcel sitting just a few steps away, near-forgotten, on his table.

Loki retrieves it, and holds it for a quiet moment before raising his head. "A gift," he says. "Peace offering, perhaps."

Theo blinks. "For me?" he says.

"For you," says Loki. As he places it in Theo's hands, the cloth covering falls to the floor.

It's a book. It's a _magnificent_ book, scarlet red and gold, its title written in a language Theo can never hope to understand. He traces the letters with his fingers, and when he looks up, Loki is smiling - or something close to it.

Theo grins, and opens the book. The words, incomprehensible as they are, are flawlessly printed, but it's the illustrations that make him catch his breath, so detailed and vibrant they near pulse with life. Some of them tug at the corners of his mind, vaguely familiar in their composition. "Is this... Asgardian history?" he ventures.

"Of a sort," says Loki. "It's a child's book, in truth, but-"

"It's incredible," Theo interrupts. He turns another page, enthralled. This is not a book to speed through, consuming as quickly as possible - this is one to savour. Theo closes it, and sets it carefully beside what passes for his bed.

He crosses the room in just a few steps. His cane clatters to the floor as he reaches both hands up to Loki's face.

"Theo," Loki says. It's a warning, but Loki's eyes are closed and his lips parted.

Theo kisses him. It's neither careful nor chaste, not like all those months ago on the train, and when Loki's hands settle on Theo's waist he fears being pushed away.

It doesn't happen. "Just once," Theo says, between kisses. "Just this once."

He can feel the tension leave Loki's shoulders the instant he gives in.

Their voices fade to whispers, speaking low and close to each other's ears - the flat's walls are thin, and certain sounds are dangerous. A small, elegant gesture from Loki and the fire burns brighter than its fuel should allow, enough to dispel the chill still seeping in through the cracks in the window-frame.

Theo's played this out in his thoughts, variations on a theme, time and time again, but being with Loki like this is not at all what he expects. It's nothing more than painfully, messily, and strikingly _human_ \- and that, above all else, is what makes Theo's heart ache, afterward, as they lie together under blankets, still just a little breathless.

"Stay the night," Theo says, and Loki nods against his shoulder. 

They kiss again, long and lingering. 

"Can you do something for me, though?" he asks, and the effort it takes to keep his voice light and inconsequential makes something tighten in his chest.

"Like what?" asks Loki.

"Please be gone," Theo says, and swallows hard, "before I wake."


End file.
